


I love you au latte

by Ember_Hinote, WyrdWeaver



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Current timeline, M/M, Pre-Kerberos Mission, Time Skips, broganes, communication specialist lance, one sided klance, research assistant - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-03 23:23:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14007096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ember_Hinote/pseuds/Ember_Hinote, https://archiveofourown.org/users/WyrdWeaver/pseuds/WyrdWeaver
Summary: When offered the opportunity work as a research assistant to Dr. Holt, Lance can see no reason to say no. That is, until he meets one of the Galaxy Garrison's best communication specialists as well as Dr. Holt's son, Matt. Did he also mention that Matt is incredibly attractive?





	1. Chapter 1

“And who can tell me what this could possibly mean?” Dr. Holt turns around from the board and looks around the classroom. “Anyone?”

As usual, there is complete silence amongst the students as some nervously look between each other with the hopes that their friend would have the answer. Sadly, most of them were let down by just that. His bespectacled eyes skim over the front row where he could see Takashi’s younger brother, Keith, practically glaring holes into the board as the gears turn in his mind. The young man was bright; Samuel had to hand it to him. Keith Kogane-Shirogane can easily be called the next rising star at the Galaxy Garrison’s American Branch with his quick wit and talents in piloting, similar to his brother. But Samuel Holt could easily see confusion starting to form in the young man’s eyes. He inwardly sighs at the sight of that and his eyes move over to the next student on his check list.

Tsuyoshi Garrett, a potential star in the Galaxy Garrison’s engineering program if only he could find a way to settle his stomach. Vomit was still not an approved lubricant for engine systems unfortunately, but hey! It was worth a shot. Just like Keith, he could see the gears turning in young Tsuyoshi’s mind but unfortunately he could also see the muddle of several other thoughts occurring in the young engineer’s mind. Samuel could not help but inwardly chuckle as he watches Hunk (a nickname that he had heard the young cadet’s friend call him) turn his attention over to the rest of the machinery described instead. So the boy would go back to his own comfortable roots instead? It would be an interesting approach to the problem but not quite what he was looking for.

Though the spotlight was often on Keith and Tsuyoshi, Samuel Holt had his mind set on another student to know what the answer was. Lance McClain. He was the best friend of young Tsuyoshi Garrettt and a rising star when it came to becoming a communications specialist. The young man could be described as a master of languages as well as their barriers. From what he could remember from the boy’s file, he was fluent in about 6 different languages but had the capabilities of comprehending about 3 or 4 more. That partnered with his knowledge of radio transmissions and military clearance, McClain was a force to be reckoned with. But going back to the question he posed, Samuel could easily see the eagerness within Lance as the boy seemed to be fighting his own desires to jump up and answer.

“Lance?”

“It’s theoretical!” shouts Lance excitedly before realizing how loudly it must have come out. “If we can just take our understanding of gravitational waves and apply it to cosmic inflations with the addition of dark energy, we could map it out on the Lambda-CDM model and possibly one day use create wormholes to travel across the galaxy!”

There was a chorus of groans coming from a couple of students behind Lance but the young man did not seem to notice this. Tsuyoshi reached out and patted Lance on the shoulder while Keith gives the young man was look of approval. Samuel just laughed and gives Lance a small smile of his own.

“Excellent, Lance, now if we could possibly travel across the galaxy what could we also do?”

“Open communication channels with other life forms!” Lance was nearly jumping out of his seat with every word. “Travel would be amazing but imagine being able to just communicate with other life forms out there! Can you imagine what we could possibly learn from that?!”

Samuel chuckles and motions for Lance to take his seat again, “Settle down, Lance, but I understand your excitement. Maybe one day we will be able to do all that. Any ways, class is dismissed and make sure you all get your reading done!”

* * *

“Nice going there Lance,” Hunk is picking up his bag just as he was quickly stuffing his notes into his. “How’d you even come up with that?”

“Yeah,” adds Keith as he makes his way over to them, book bag already slung over his shoulder. “It wasn’t in any of the reading that Dr. Holt had assigned us.”

Lance laughs nervously as he began to zip his bag shut. “Well, you see, I decided to do a bit of the extra suggested reading last night while Hunk and I were watching Iron Chef and I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if we were to combine all those things into one thing. Like how we take ingredients and it makes one awesome dish!” He swings the bag on to messenger bag on to his shoulder and taps his chin. “Now it’s only a question of is it Cuban or American and if it tastes good.”

“Dude,” Hunk playfully punches his best friend’s shoulder. “It’s definitely Samoan, no doubt about it.”

“You’re both wrong,” adds Keith with a chuckle. “It’s either Japanese or Korean.”

He shrugs his shoulders as the three young men began to make their way out of the room. “Either way, we have to agree.”

“On what?” Hunk and Keith both look at him curiously.

Lance offers them a small smirk. “That it’ll be delicious.”

The three were laughing at the ridiculous conclusion as they were quickly approaching the door. Luckily for them, it was lunch time but immediately after lunch there would be simulator training and followed by study hall and then it was officially lights out. Officially that is. That meant nothing to them as it was movie night tonight at Lance and Hunk’s room which meant Sci-fi thrillers paired with Hunk’s special cookies and cream popcorn all the way until dawn if any of them had anything to say about it. This was immediately followed up by Lance’s grandma’s special energy drink recipe and then they would be completely fine for classes that day before completely and utterly crashing by the end of it.

“Ah, Lance,” Dr. Holt waves over at them and the group immediately stops. “Could you come here for a second?”

A wave of fear immediately washes over Lance and he looks between his two friends nervously. Both Hunk and Keith give him looks of support before patting him on his shoulders. But before he leaves the room, Keith pulls him down.

“We’ll be outside,” whispers the slightly shorter teen. “Just let us know.”

Lance nods his head stiffly as Keith offers him a comforting smile before following Hunk out of the room. There was no doubt that those two would be standing right outside the room with their ears practically glued to the door, ready to rush in if anything were to happen. Though Lance has his doubts about this, Dr. Holt didn’t hate him…right? He carefully makes his way over to smiling older man.

“Yes, Dr. Holt?” Oh god, he hopes that his voice sounded much more confident than he felt. He was practically quaking in his boots from fear. “You wanted to see me?”

“Ah yes,” replies the professor with a smile. “Don’t worry Lance, you aren’t in any trouble. Quite the opposite actually.”

“Huh?”

“You are a hard worker Lance and one of my most brilliant students,” says Dr. Holt, “last year one of my lab assistants had graduated leaving a spot open and I was wondering if you were interested in helping me out with my research.”

“W-What?!”

Dr. Holt chuckled. “I don’t hand out this opportunity lightly Lance.”

“Of course!” Lance could feel his cheeks begin to ache with how large his smile was. “I-It would be an honor to work with you! Oh my gosh! Wow!”

“Excellent, we will be having a group meeting on Friday at 3; will that be alright with you?”

Lance nods his head eagerly. “Of course! I’ll be there!”

“Wonderful, you are dismissed Lance.”

He is practically running out of the room to only be stopped by Hunk catching him by his shoulders. There was seriously concerned look on Hunk’s face as his eyes were practically staring into Lance’s soul. While Keith was his friend, Hunk was his BEST FRIEND. Hunk was a level 10 friend while Keith was more like a level 5 friend. So if anything happened to Lance, Hunk wanted to be one of the first people to know. Keith would be a close second just because of proximity.

Speaking of proximity, Keith was leaning on the wall beside them trying not to look interested but the mullet haired teen was ultimately failing in it.

“So,” says Hunk, “what happened?”

“Eeee!” squeaks Lance.

“Lance?”

“I’M GONNA BE WORKING IN DR.HOLT’S LAB!!!”

“WHAT!?” Hunk and Keith look at him in shock for about a second before the next thing Lance knows, he’s tackled to the ground as the two are hugging him.

“Dude! That’s so awesome!” cheers Hunk. “This requires some extra chocolate popcorn tonight!”

“Yeah! Congrats Lance!”

“Thanks guys!” laughs Lance, “Now come on! Let’s go get some food!”

A fighter pilot, engineer, and communications specialist who were as thick as thieves from the moment that they had met at their first simulator exercise as a group. It had been one of Lance’s fears when he first arrived at the Garrison, would he be able to make friends? Would he even have friends to hang out with in the first place? But now, there was not ever a dull moment. Sure there was studying and homework that needed to be done but there were also movie nights with dessert popcorn and laughter when they should have been sleeping.

“So what’d’you think you’ll be doin’ in Dr. Holt’s lab?” asks Keith after flipping through the available movies for them to watch.

It was Wednesday night movie night at the Garrett-McClain dorm room which meant moving their twin beds together to form one big bed in front of their television with personal bowls of Hunk’s chosen dessert popcorn of the week (this week being Cookie ‘N Cream). They were dressed down in their pajamas with their pillows and blankets piled around them.

“Not sure,” shrugs Lance as he leans back and stares up at the ceiling.

“Though I don’t doubt your ability,” begins Hunk, “It’s probably gonna be simple stuff like copying and filing and secretary duties like that.”

“Probably,” Lance shrugs. “Either way, it gets me one step closer to his research. It’d be cool to finally communicate with aliens!”

“I dunno man,” says Hunk. “It could be dangerous.”

“Or we can get some info on their tech,” comments Keith off handedly.

“…Never mind then, we’ll just approach with some caution….”

The three collapsed into a fit of laughter before starting the movie of the night. It was a cute film about a lab assistant falling in love with their boss’s son before a tragic accident occurred that separated the two as well as the lab assistant’s friends. It was not one of their usual films but for some reason, this particular film just spoke out to them.

Thursday just flew past him and the next thing he knew, it was Friday. Specifically, it was 2:45pm on a Friday afternoon and Hunk was with him. Apparently Keith had something preplanned with his mysterious brother so he was not able to come with them though he did wish Lance good luck! Hunk was standing in the hall with him and giving him an encouraging pat on the back.

“Don’t worry Lance,” he says calmly. “You’ll do great!”

“I’m not sure.”

“Nope! Nope! You are sure!”

“Uh…can I help you two?”

Immediately the two swung around and Lance’s jaw dropped. Standing in front of him was a guy with messy light brown hair, dazzling caramel colored eyes that were unfortunately shielded by the round glasses that he wore, and an air of intelligence surrounding him. Lance felt his mouth dry immediately and his voice box just seemed to fail. The other guy quirks a brow at him but luckily Hunk is there.

“Oh my buddy Lance is here for the meeting with Dr. Holt and I just came for moral support,” says Hunk smoothly before elbowing him with a small smirk. “Isn’t that right Lance?”

All Lance could do was mechanically nod his head in response but apparently that was enough to bring a smile to the guy’s face.

“So you’re the new guy,” he says holding out his hand to Lance. “Dad mentioned that he found a replacement for Clarisse. The name’s Matt by the way, Matt Holt.”

“Lance,” replies Lance a bit too quickly before going to shake Matt’s hand. “Lance McClain, it’s nice to meet you.”

Matt chuckles at him. “At ease cadet, no need to be nervous, my dad’s a pretty cool guy and if he’s asked you to join his research group, you deserve it.” Matt gives him a smile as he began to walk away. “Anyways, I’ve got some important things to do ‘cause I’m a busy man after all, best of luck Lance.”

“T-Thanks!”

Lance quickly checks his watch and his eyes widen in shock to see that the time was already 2:55! He quickly bolts down the hall to Dr. Holt’s office where he was surprised to find that he was the first one there. The other more senior assistants arrived just two minutes later than he did and there were three of them. The first one was a tall African American guy named Anthony. The second was a short Asian girl named Erica. The third was a tall blond guy named Henry. All three of them were in the space scientist program at the Garrison instead of the space flight program that he was in. But overall, they seemed to be pretty cool people and Lance was looking forward to working with them. Later when he got back to his room, Hunk was still out and about and Keith was probably still out with his elder brother but he just had to call them.

“What now Lance?” groans Keith’s voice, “You’re disturbing BuzzFeed Unsolved.”

“Hey Lance what’s up?” asks Hunk.

Lance took a breath as he fell back on his bed. “Houston-”

“Are you just saying that because I’m from Texas?” deadpan Keith’s voice.

“Wha? No-I mean yes-but-ah! Keith! Hunk! I’ve got a problem!”

“And we’re about to have one if you don’t get to the point.”

“Keith….”

“Sorry Hunk.”

“So what’s up Lance?”

“I just met the hottest guy ever.”


	2. Hello there, how do you brew?

_“..so you’re tell us that you have a crush on Dr. Holt’s son?”_

_“Wow…like…wow, man.”_

_“Guys!!!!”_

_“Don’t worry, everything will be okay.”_

Everything was in fact not okay.

His first few weeks at Dr. Holt’s lab were great! He loved his new job as well as his teammates in research. Yes, part of his duties included cleaning lab equipment, filing, and making copies but it was also translating! That part he was not expecting but Dr. Holt was hoping to have him put his linguistic abilities to work by translating papers. His workload did not even bother him in the slightest despite the increasingly heavy demands of his classes (including Dr. Holt’s) as well as the long hours into the evening spent trying to figure out if he was looking at Canadian French as opposed to France’s French or if it was just a French Canadian writing at a university in France and don’t let him get started on those Russians! Don't get him started on the Russians and their mania for making everybody in the former USSR speak and write in similar languages! As a linguist, Lance could tell everybody around him for hours that this played hell on attempting to translate anything from the region.

No…none of that bothered Lance. He actually enjoyed doing all of that. But what was making everything not okay was the frequency of Matt Holt’s appearance in his father’s lab! Sure! Dr. Holt was his father and this was his lab but why did Matt Holt have to stop by so often!? Matt was supposed to be working on a completely different project all together but he kept on showing up at Dr. Holt’s lab.

“I swear Lance!” groans Keith as they left simulator training. “Pick a god and start praying because if you don’t get your head back into focus, I’m kicking your ass from here to Kerberos!”

“Keith,” warns Hunk.

“We had _another_ close call Hunk!”

“I know that but,” Hunk lets out a huff. “Look, Lance, this level of unfocused is really not like you.”

“I know, I know,” groans Lance, “Look, I’m really sorry guys.”

Another close call in the simulator and another near slip up that could lose them that number one spot in the Garrison. If it was not for Keith’s instinctual flying and Hunk’s quick engineering, they would have been doomed. But Iverson was quick to point out to them that a team was only as strong as their weakest link and currently, that was Lance. Hunk and Keith tried their best to deflect the scathing remark from the Commander to themselves but it was clear to everyone that Lance was distracted and definitely not being himself.

Lance was supposed to be one of the best communication specialists at the Galaxy Garrison to date! Normally his scores were absolutely flawless and because of that, he was placed in the best team the Garrison had to offer. With Keith the prodigal pilot and Hunk the genius engineer! He used to be spoken about at the same level that they were, with envy and jealousy. But now, all he got were concerned looks from his instructor and snide remarks from his fellow students.

“Oh hey Lance!” Lance quickly looks up from his desk at the familiar voice and he could feel it happening all over again: the sweaty palms, loss of words, and his brain going into complete shutdown at the sight of Matt Holt.

“Hi Matt,” replies Lance quickly with a small smile of his own when the older guy came over. “What’s up?”

“Hopefully me pretty soon,” chuckles Matt as he sat down in the seat opposite of Lance, “So whatcha workin’ on?”

Lance sheepishly holds up the journal he had been reading through. It was a Portuguese journal talking about the energy emitted from both black holes and white holes and how they could possibly try to harness that energy in the future to power their space tech.

“Just a bit of translating work for your dad,” he says with a small smile.

“Oh yeah,” Matt looks at the journal. “So how many languages are you actually fluent in? Dad mentioned that it was like ten or something?”

Lance shook his head. “No, just 6 but I can understand about 3 or 4 more.”

Matt laughed. “ _Just 6_? Geez Lance, give yourself a little more credit here! Most people can’t even speak one language properly!” Suddenly Matt stopped laughing and his smile shifted to a small frown.

“What?”

“You look exhausted,” says Matt. “Have you been getting any sleep lately?”

“Uh…not really?”

Matt sighs, “Figures. Put that stuff up.”

Lance unconsciously began to put away his papers and study materials while looking at Matt in confusion.  What was the guy even doing? Why was Matt even upset that Lance was losing sleep? Did he expect that it might be from working with Dr. Holt? Because if that was it, Lance was ready to argue otherwise but that would only prove that he was not capable enough to manage a research position on top of his own class work and _then_ what would Matt think of him. Once he was done, Matt grabbed his hand.

“Come on, it’s 5 in the afternoon so we’re getting Affogatos!”

Lance raises a brow as Matt continues to drag him along. “Affogatos?”

Matt smirks back at him. “As in, Afforgeto where I am when I'm with you.”

If Hunk and Keith were present, they would have confirmed with their combined knowledge that Lance.exe was no longer functioning. Lance can only gape at the older guy, unable to process what just happened. This can only be a dream right? There is no way that Matt could have an interest in him.

No way!

Nuh uh!

Not happening!

* * *

He absolutely cannot believe it.

HOW DARE SHIRO BE RIGHT?!?!

It was only just this morning when they left the simulator that he nearly messed up on when his best friend and fighter pilot pulled him aside to chat with him.

“Seriously Matt,” oh no, here come the eyes of puppy dog disappointment. Matt braces himself for impact knowing full well that any action was absolutely futile against their effectiveness. “What’s going on? You’re nowhere near as focused as you usually are.”

“Sorry Shiro,” sighs Matt as he waves his hand dismissively at his best friend. “Don’t worry, I’ll fix this. Have to right? For the Kerberos mission?”

It’s Shiro’s turn to sigh now. “Why don’t you just ask the guy out already?” He places his hands on his hip. “I mean seriously Matt, if it’s bothering you this much, just ask him out.”

“It’s not that simple Shiro.”

“I swear on all things good and holy that if our team starts reflecting my brother’s team then the world is ending. I cannot deal with a motion sick engineer!”

“Well what if he doesn’t like me back?” shouts Matt as he tangles his hands through his hair. “What then? He freaking works with MY DAD, Shiro! What if that puts his neck on the line? I wouldn’t even be able to look at myself if I was the reason my dad fires him!”

Shiro rolls his eyes at the melodramatics. “I’m pretty sure Dr. Holt is well above melodramatics and based off what I’ve heard, he likes this new guy too.”

“Well, yeah, you don’t really get someone that fluent in languages easily.”

Shiro gives him a look of disappointment for just a moment before it melts away and his friend reaches out to pat him on the shoulder. Matt has taken his glasses off to clean them but looks up and over when Shiro does that. What kind of meaningful message could Shiro give him this time around? What kind of wisdom could the great Takashi Shirogane impart on his best friend right now during his time of romantic confusion? Takashi Shirogane should go write greeting cards in Matthew Holt’s opinion.

“Use a pick up line.”

…What?

“Huh?”

Shiro sighs. “He might be a master of languages Matt but everyone gets thrown off by pick up lines. Use one of your really bad ones and ask him to coffee or something? Take him off base and to that shop that serves really good coffee and cake and count it as a date. Just do something!”

Matt looks at his best friend quizzically, trying to figure out if Shiro could possibly be tricking him this time around because that was some of the most undergrad Shiro thing that he’s heard Shiro say since they graduated from the Garrison. But hey, Shiro did have a point. What did he even have to lose when it came to asking the guy out?

“Uh…yes…?”

What Matthew Holt could not comprehend was that it actually seemed to work. Sitting right across the table from him is the adorable Lance McClain, a widely talked about communications specialist at the Galaxy Garrison, who just accepted a cheesy pick up line date! Matt’s face splits into a huge grin and he’s just about ready to start jumping up and down in excitement. How could this even be possible but hey! He now has a date with the ever adorable Lance McClain and the whole world could start burning! He reaches over the table and grabs Lance’s hand as he gets off the chair.

“Then let us depart, my dear,” he says in the most princely voice he could muster. “For our carriage awaits.”

* * *

“I swear comm specs are weird,” groans his younger brother. “First mine and now yours?”

“Keith,” sighs Shiro, “love does weird things to people in general.”

“Che,” scoffs Keith, “Got that right! Weird and annoying!”

A chorus of bells sounds in the room and Shiro sighs as he reaches over the counter to grab his phone. As it was a Friday night, Keith was back home at their apartment as opposed to his dorm room for the weekend. They were in the middle of making dinner – they had agreed on okonomiyaki – and watching the next season of BuzzFeed Unsolved together when Shiro’s text tone had gone off. Keith lets out a loud whine at that sound as it usually meant that Shiro would have to cut family time short to do Garrison work causing Shiro to shoot his younger brother an apologetic look before looking at the text.

“What do they want this time?” whines Keith as he gets up from the couch and walks over to the fridge to get something to drink. He is rummaging through the fridge for any of the chilled citrus tea that Shiro usually has ready.

“What do you think about dinner after coffee today?” asks Shiro as a playful smirk forms on his face.

Keith gives him a deadpan stare before going back to rummaging in the fridge. “And why would I want to do that?”

“Because Matt just got a got a date with his crush,” sings Shiro causing Keith to pop back out of the fridge to look at him with mild interest.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” asks Keith as a devious grin begins to form on his face. The same expression beginning to form on Shiro’s as he begins to cover the bowl with cling wrap to stick in the fridge.

“You,” he says, “go get the cameras and I’ll grab my keys and jackets.”

Keith is out of the kitchen quicker than he can put his phone down. Aside from being fighter pilots, there was another major hobby that the brothers shared, photography. But not just any photography, specifically blackmail of their own teams if at all possible. Shiro only has himself to blame for Keith’s love of the hobby after taking the young man out to take pictures of his team when he was in the middle of his Garrison training. He places the bowl of batter into the fridge and goes to grab his keys and their jackets. When he closes the closet door, Keith is already standing there with a massive grin on his face as he checks the settings of his camera.

“Is mine good to go?” asks Shiro as he hands Keith his jacket.

“Yup! New memory card and all!”

“Great,” chuckles Shiro as he ruffles Keith’s hair after sliding on his own jacket, “let’s hurry or we’ll miss all the good shots!”

They quickly leave the apartment with Shiro locking it behind him and Keith running ahead to the hoverbike. It was sleek, black, sexy, and still gleaming from the cleaning Shiro did when they first arrived home. Parked beside Shiro’s bike was a slightly older red hoverbike that had belonged to Keith’s birthfather before he died that Shiro was still in the process of repairing with Matt and their engineer’s help. It would be Keith’s once he graduated from the Garrison or he was old enough to legally drive it, which ever happens first. Shiro chuckles when he finds Keith already in the seat and ready to go.               

It was just quick ride down to the coffee shop that Shiro knew Matt would be taking his date. This place was known for being the best coffee shop in town and they never failed to deliver in great cake as well. Once inside, he orders him and Keith large unsweetened green teas and two slices of strawberry shortcake while Keith went to secure their booth with optimal viewing of all areas of the coffee shop while still able to conceal them just enough so that they would not easily be seen.

* * *

“Wow, I never knew that you could drive,” says Lance as he exits the black sedan.

“Yeah well, there’s a lot that we’ll be learning about each other,” chuckles Matt as he locks the vehicle behind them. He then walks over and wraps an arm around Lance’s waist and begins to guide them into the coffee ship by pushing the door open with his free hand and giving Lance a slight bow. “After you, my good sir.”

Lance giggles before walking in and offering Matt an over the shoulder smile, causing the older boy to blush. This particular coffee shop was only one that Lance had heard about from older Garrison students as well as Keith but he had never been there. But judging by the looks of things and how comfortable Matt was with the location, the older boy had been there before. Lance’s attention is immediately drawn to the pastry case that was filled with gorgeous cakes, cookies, and various other sweets.

“So how do you take your coffee?” asks Matt, looking over at him curiously.

“Surprise me.”

“So dessert?”

Lance smiles back at Matt. “Surprise me.”

Lance continues to look around the shop and spots a small circular table with barstools set in front of a window with full view of the night sky. A smile forms on his face and he hurries over in order to secure the table. He is still on cloud nine over the fact that he’s out with Matthew Holt, Dr. Holt’s son! What were the chances of that happening? But then again, a frown forms on Lance’s face as the thoughts cross his mind. What were the chances of him messing this all up? How would he even look Dr. Holt in the eye if something went wrong between him and Matt?

“You alright there cadet?” whispers hot breath in his ear.

Lance did not jump about 2 feet into the air and shriek. Nope. He did not do that.

* * *

“Shiro, did you get that?”

“Keith…I am disappointed in you. The real question is how many versions of that did you get?”

“You are not wrong.”

* * *

Matt cannot help but laugh at Lance’s reaction as he was luckily able to pull away before the younger man could knock the coffee and treats out of his hands. The light blush dusting across his face at Matt’s words was more amusing than anything.

“You jerk,” says Lance with an ineffective unamused expression on his face.

“Ah,” hums Matt as they move to sit on the barstools, “but you love me anyways.”

“I wouldn’t go as far to say that, Mr. Holt.”

“Ah come on,” Matt smiles at Lance before handing him a cup of coffee. “I hope you don’t mind but I got you a cinnamon dolce latte, the second best blend of sweet and spicy.”

Lance takes a sip and soon a teasing smile begins to spread across his face. “If this is the second, then what is the first?”

“I’m looking at him right now,” sighs Matt before taking a sip of his own caramel latte.

He could spend the rest of his life staring into Lance’s eyes if he was given the privilege to. He could have sworn that the stars were plucked from the night sky and placed in those beautiful eyes. Maybe that was why Lance chose to study at the Galaxy Garrison; to be closer to the stars that his eyes and very soul seemed to mimic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Hey guys, gals, and non binary pals" - Thomas Sanders 
> 
> But hey everybody, how's it going? WyrdWeaver and I hope that you all are doing alright and that you all enjoyed this chapter. Things are starting to pick up and now we know that the Broganes have a blackmail collection!
> 
> So if you like this, please leave a comment or a kudos or both! Both would be lovely because WyrdWeaver and I love to hear from you all if possible. We will try to update weekly for you all, it really just depends because some weeks are going to be a little more difficult than others because college.


	3. Shovel Talk

Lance has become and even happier person than before and Hunk was not even sure that that was even possible to begin with. He smiles even more now than before and even after a difficult day in the simulator, he’s all smiles and cheer for them. There are days when Lance has literally been up since the ass crack of dawn in order to get his homework and some of the translating work for Dr. Holt done and has his entire day booked until practically midnight but Lance doesn’t complain. Hunk surmises that it is because despite the past few months being filled with difficult school work they were still dotted with their weekly team hangouts and the recent addition of dates with Matt.

Hunk wants to say that he is happy for his friend. He wants to say that he fully trusts Lance’s happiness to Matthew Holt, the son of astrophysics Professor Dr. Samuel Holt. But he would be lying to himself if he were to say that. Hunk notices the subtle looks on Dr. Holt’s face sometimes, as if the man is questioning Lance’s character when it was _his son_ that made the first move. Though the argument can be skewed to where it questions why Lance even accepted the first date to begin with, Hunk would still raise suspicion in favor of his best friend.

Hunk will admit that Lance and Matt are very cute together.

Well…that or Keith is _really_ good at photography.

He knows that he should not have any reason to question Matt’s intentions with his best friend but he cannot help but feel that he has to. What if Matt was taking advantage of Lance? What if this was all just a game to the older boy? Hunk is neither deaf nor blind when it comes to rumors and the little whispers amongst students. He knows of Matt’s history, that he was a flirt and could be a bit flighty. Matt has been known to break a few hearts and that is something that Hunk cannot have. It has become Hunk’s personal mission to ensure that Lance is happy.

This mainly starts after class one day. He, Keith, and Lance were supposed to go study together in the library but Lance was asked to stay after class by Dr. Holt. Now Lance had dismissed them and Keith was off to go secure them a table but Hunk is not so sure. When Keith is go, he waits outside the classroom for Lance when he overhears a conversation between him and Dr. Holt. Judging by how they were talking, they did not want anyone to eavesdrop on their conversation but if they had wanted that, they should have just gone to Dr. Holt’s office. Despite his appearance, Hunk is gifted in the art of snooping.

“I hope you can begin to comprehend the situation you are in Lance.”

“This wasn’t my intention, Dr. Holt.”

“But it is what it is.” Hunk begins to tense at those words. He knows that nothing good can come from words like those. “If worse comes to worse, I do not know if I will be able to separate myself as a professor and a father so tread carefully Lance.”

He can practically smell and taste Lance’s distress. This is just what he was worried about. Lance’s intelligence and dedication to anything should not be in question because some guy just could not pick better timing. Hunk knows full well that Lance did not intend to compromise his researching and translating capabilities but to an outside observer, he had to admit that it did not look too good. So he makes a note to visit with Matt as soon as he can. He knows that the guy can’t be blamed for his father’s words but Hunk has to make him understand now.

Why now and not earlier?

Now he is known for being a very nice and sweet guy. The entire garrison is aware that Hunk is a gentle giant and that is what he wants them to know and honestly, that is just what he is most of the time. But when it comes to his best friends, just be prepared. If you make them suffer, then he will be sure to let you know and make you suffer in return. This is what friendship means to Hunk. Friends are the family that you were not born with but chose to be with and Hunk will defend his family to end at all costs.

But why now of all times? It is because in about two months time, a particular Holt will be shot into space on a mission to the moon of Kerberos. In turn, this makes that particular Holt a bit more visible in the crowd, not that he was not already. No. Matthew Holt was and still is plenty popular at the Galaxy Garrison but this mission just made him a little more popular. It is still a surprise to Hunk how the two are still able to keep their relationship on the down low that any rumor of Matt and Lance dating was quickly dismissed as a falsehood. But Hunk can only guess that this is because of Matt’s own doing if anything. The older boy is the more senior communications specialist so Hunk would guess that Matt would have some knowledge on how to manipulate the rumors around school pretty easily if he tried. Matt is a genius after all.

But genius can always back fire if one isn’t careful enough to cover their own tracks.

“Matt Holt.”

Hunk watches as the older boy looks up from his studies. The librarian is out on their coffee break leaving the library free for the next fifteen minutes. It is a Friday night meaning that most students would not be around and if they were, they were on the upper floors of the library in order to avoid any commotion on the first floor. Using those same communication pathways that he hypothesizes that Matt uses to quiet any whisper of his and Lance’s relationship, he is able to pinpoint Matthew Holt’s exact location in the library: the furthest back study table by the reference works.

At first, Matt looks at him in surprise before his brow begins to further. He was probably trying to figure out why Hunk probably looked familiar to him. Hunk can see the gears whirring in Matt’s mind at lightning speed as the realization soon crosses the older boy’s face. Ah. It took him long enough to realize just who he was.

“Hunk, hey,” chuckles Matt as he closes the book that he was just reading. “How’s it going?”

“I’m fine, and you?”

Matt chuckles as he gestures to the stack of books beside him. “I could be better but this mission has my nerves practically fried but it’s totally worth it.” Soon Matt’s expression shifts from jovial to serious as he looks back at Hunk. Ah. So he was finally starting to get it? “But let’s cut to the chase,” Matt leans forward with his fingertips pressed together in a triangle, “What brings you to my corner of the library?”

“What are your intentions with Lance?” Hunk takes the seat opposite of Matt. He gives the older boy a hardened stare and continues to hold it. There is no way he is backing down to Matthew Holt. Not now. Not ever.

“He’s my boyfriend,” replies Matt calmly, Hunk can see Matt carefully watching his expression. “What’s the meaning of this?’

“Did you know that your father just question what Lance’s intentions were?”

“I can understand why he did that and I have clarified to him that I was the one to make the first move.”

“But he has brought Lance’s own intentions into question.”

“To which he has nothing to fear because Lance means no malice.”

Each line is quick and directly to the point as the two intellectuals dual. Neither is giving into the other’s stare or willing to fall behind in this battle of words. Hunk knows that he needs to win this battle against Matthew Holt on behalf of Lance’s image and honor. He has to make sure that Matthew Holt knows that he will not let him hurt Lance. He will make sure that Matthew Holt knows that if he hurts Lance, he will be making an enemy of Hunk.

“Lance,” begins Hunk, “is my best friend. My first friend here at the garrison and a very important part of my flight team.”

“As is Keith Shirogane.”

“Yes but we’re not talking about Keith,” continues Hunk sternly, “and you’re not dating Keith or I suppose Captain Takashi Shirogane would have a few choice words for you?”

Matt chuckles. “You got me there.”

“Look, I’ll just cut to the chase,” says Hunk as he gets up and leans over the table. He gets right into Matt’s face with both his palms planted on the piece of furniture beneath them. Immediately Matt’s expression crumbles to shock. “Lance is one of the nicest people that I know and will probably ever know. He is my best friend and practically my brother. If you hurt him, I will make sure no one will ever be able to find a trace of you. Do you understand?”

There is a moment of silence between them and Hunk continues to hold his own stern face while Matthew Holt attempts to figure out a method of escape. But soon, the fear dissolves away and leaves a calm on his face as he offers Hunk a smile.

“I’m glad that Lance has friends like you,” says Matt calmly. “It’s nice to know that he has people who care about him strongly enough to give me a shovel talk.” He takes a breath. “I love Lance and I would never do anything to purposely hurt him, but if I did, you have my permission to hurt me just as much if not more than how much I hurt him.”

Hunk holds the stare for another minute before drawing back and sighing. “But if I hurt you, then I hurt Lance as well unfortunately. Just…just be careful with him. I’m warning you.”

“Like I said, I would never do anything to hurt him.”

But unfortunately that promise was not one that was meant to be kept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading this story so far! WyrdWeaver and I had so much fun writing this chapter and I hope that it was evident to you all! We hope that you all had a good week and this week will be so much better!!


	4. Unfortunately Grounded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So hey guys, WyrdWeaver and I just wanted to have a word with all of you before this chapter starts. You might have noticed the one-sided Klance tag that was added. We had gone over this chapter several times and it had come to our attention (after consulting with a few other Voltron loving friends) that there were Klance notes. We had tried to edit them out but by doing so, it had done some damage to the story line. So yes, we are aware that this chapter and the next chapter has some Klance notes but we wanted to remind you all that this is Latte (Matt x Lance). So that you all very much and we'll see you at the bottom!

The news of the Kerberos mission sends a shockwave.

They call it “Pilot Error.”

Keith calls it absolute **bull shit**.

Why?

There is only one communications specialist that is better than Lance and that is Matt Holt.

There is only one fighter pilot (or pilot in general) that is better than _him_ and that is his **_brother_** , Takashi Shirogane.

For them to call is “pilot error” is impossible. Who the fuck do they think they’re fooling when they tell him that his brother is dead in space and that it was his fault? Keith is only lucky that Hunk and Lance were just outside the door when he was told that Takashi is now….

No.

He’s not dead.

How dare they even call him “Shiro” when they blame him for what happened on the Kerberos mission? Hearing his brother’s nickname coming from the mouths of those that accuse him is sickening to Keith and he wants nothing more than to scream and shout at them. He wants to call them out on their own errors, that this is wrong and that it just isn’t true. He knows it! Shiro is his big brother! Keith would know if his big brother just suddenly died.

He knew when his father died….

It was before he even started primary school and he was out playing with Shiro when it happened. His father and Shiro’s family were close friends so they had grown up together. Shiro was practically his big brother even before he was officially adopted. They were playing on the swings at the play ground when suddenly an overwhelming cold and sadness caught his heart and began to tighten in his chest. He was crying and back then he did not know why. When Shiro tried to comfort him, nothing seemed to work but the Shiro got a call and they learned the news together.

When Shiro’s own parents died in a car accident, Keith was there. It was just a week after Shiro graduated from the Galaxy Garrison and his brother was giving him the grand tour of the facility since Keith wanted to attend as well. He remembers seeing Shiro suddenly stop in his tracks and tense. He remembers asking his brother what was wrong and Shiro giving him that fake smile of trying to say that everything was alright. That was, until they finally received the phone call.

After that, Takashi Shirogane took custody of Keith Kogane-Shirogane, his younger brother. As soon as the paperwork had been signed and officiated, Shiro had taken both of his hands and looked him right in the eye. Shiro had promised him that no matter what, he would never leave Keith and that he would never let anyone else leave him alone ever again.

But now…was that all just a lie? Did his brother finally leave him? Just like everybody else?

No.

He refuses to believe that. His brother was still out there and alive and he just had to go. Shiro was out there and alive and Keith needed to be the one to go out there and find him.

* * *

Matt was gone.

It has been a week and that still hasn’t fully settled in yet. Matt was gone. His body lost in space. His love lost in space on the moon of Kerberos. Lance does not want to believe any of this. He wants to believe none of this! This is not true! But…but then what happened to his Matt?

Lance doesn’t want to think about what Matt could have gone through during his final moments. Were they peaceful? Did he have to suffer? Oh Lance prays that Matt did not have to suffer. Heck! Lance prays to every and any higher power that would be willing to listen to him for the Kerberos crew to suddenly make a reappearance and for them to be safe. He wants Matt to radio back to him that he is alive and alright.

Suddenly Lance’s eyes widen in realization.

The radio!

That was it!

Lance is immediately out of bed and on his feet. He cannot believe it. The answer to his questions and prayers was right there in front of him this whole time. Radios and frequencies are things that he knows and things that he can work with. If he can just find the right signal, he might be able to find them. He might be able to figure this out.

“Lance?” He looks over and sees Hunk sitting up on his bed rubbing his sleepy eyes. “What are you doing?”

“Going down to the radio room,” replies Lance simply.

“Wait.” Hunk suddenly looks more awake that he was before. “What?”

“You don’t have to come alone, just go back to sleep.”

“Uh, no.” It’s now Lance’s turn to look at his friend in surprise as Hunk gets up and off his bed in order to grab both their jackets. “If you’re planning on scanning the universe for the Kerberos Mission’s radio signals, then count me in. You’re not doing this alone.”

Lance smiles as he takes his jacket from Hunk. Leave it up to his first best friend to go and say such touching words to him. Hunk did have a serious gift when it comes to comforting people. Heck, he was the only one who was able to pull through on the simulator this week when he and Keith were just messes.

“In that case,” he says, “call Keith. If we’re going down, we’re going down as the best damn team in the garrison.”

It does not surprise Lance that Keith is already there by the time he and Hunk arrive. The other boy looks impatient and antsy as he stands outside the radio room. Lance can only guess this because Keith’s brother was the pilot of the Kerberos mission, Takashi Shirogane. He sides with Keith when they call the mission failure due to pilot error.

Why?

Because Keith is the best damn pilot at the garrison and the only pilot better than Keith was his older brother who freaking taught Keith how to pilot.

Then if anything actually happened with the ship, their communications specialist would have immediately radioed back to Earth to let them know what happened. The Kerberos mission not only had the best pilot that the garrison had to offer but they also had the best communications specialist that they had to offer as well, Matthew Holt. So how could the mission have gone down so easily with minimal communication with the crew?

That question has been tugging at the back Lance’s mind for the past week. He knows that Matt was trained to radio back if anything were to happen so for Matt not to say anything was just a wonder for Lance. That was where things were just not adding up. Why would Matt not radio back if they ran into trouble with the mission? If they had encountered anything that Shiro could not have piloted his way out of?

None of that added up.

“Are you getting anything Lance?” asks Keith as he and Hunk sit on either side of him as he goes through the garrison’s supposedly private radio logs about the mission.

Lance shakes his head. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“I don’t get it,” sighs Lance as he begins to mess with the dials and knobs on the control panel in front of him. “This just doesn’t make any sense. Matt knows to radio back if anything happens in order to keep a log of all the mission’s activities. This just does not make sense.”

When he finally finds Matt’s voice amongst the log, he feels his heart swell. Though it is just a comment about ice being found on Kerberos it is nice to hear his boyfriend’s voice after so long. He looks over at both Keith and Hunk and is carefully watching their expressions during the audio logs. Hunk just looks shocked at the discovery of ice. Keith looks like he is about to start crying at the sound of Shiro’s voice so Lance places a comforting hand on his shoulder. He can only begin to imagine what it was like to be told that your only family was now dead and now to hear their voice again on an audio log that they technically didn’t have permission to.

But the jokes and laughter about space ice is soon cut off by Dr. Holt’s own observation of something coming towards them. Shiro is suddenly shouting at them to run. Matt is screaming in fear.

And Lance can’t take it anymore. He quickly tears the headphones away and backs up from the control panel in horror. He looks over and sees that Keith is just frozen in shock. His headphones are off as well and he’s just staring at them as if he could not believe what just happened. Lance looks over at Hunk and the other boy is looking at him with a similar shock. What were they just listening to?

Suddenly Keith gets up and Lance can tell by his face that he is absolutely fuming.

* * *

“Keith,” begins Lance.

“They lied,” says Keith in a low voice.

“Wait,” he says, quickly getting to his feet and rushing to stand near his two friends. He places a hand on both their shoulders. “Guys, there must be some mistake.”

“They lied to me!” spits Keith angrily as he glares at no one in particular. “They lied to us! SOMETHING HAPPENED TO THEM OUT THERE!”

“Keith,” begins Lance again, “calm down.”

“NO!” shouts Keith. “THEY’RE BLAMING MY BROTHER FOR THE KERBEROS FAILURE AND IT WASN’T EVEN HIS FAULT!”

“Keith,” he says in his most calming voice. “We know. We all knew that it wasn’t Shiro’s fault. That something went wrong beyond their control but who’s going to listen to us.”

“But they still could be out there,” begins Keith as his anger started to fade. “My brother, he’s still out there.”

Hunk holds on to Keith as the other boy began to cry and Lance joins in on the group hug. This mission meant a lot for his team. Both Keith and Lance were emotionally invested into it with Takashi Shirogane being Keith’s elder brother and Matthew Holt being Lance’s boyfriend so to expect them to be fine after learning about “what happened” was not realistic. Their team is falling apart at a rate faster than Hunk can hold them together right now.

It is only after another close call in the flight simulator do they really talk again. It has been three months since the report on the Kerberos mission and right now, they are barely able to hang on to their top spot on the leader board. Keith is becoming more and more agitated as is Lance and this is leading to more and more arguments between them. Every time Iverson comments of this, neither is willing to even look at each other. They know that it is neither of their faults but they just cannot help it.

“I think we need to split up,” says Keith suddenly on day.

They are sitting in the library together for the first time in three months. They hadn’t even had movie night together. All team activities had come to a complete halt so this study meeting was just a surprise to all of them.

“What?” Lance’s voice is shocked but his eyes are tired. Hunk knows that Lance has been sneaking out of their room and over to the radio room to scan the skies. He wants to find something more than just the frightening audio logs of what the Kerberos crew had encountered. He wants answers and will stop at nothing to get them.

“Keith,” he starts but Keith silences him with a single look. It chills him to the core. Keith is dead serious and judging by the look he just received, there is no way that Keith is stepping down from this. He has obviously thought this through more than what he and Lance could even consider.

“We need to split up,” says Keith resolutely. “It is the only way to get the information we need.”

“But,” begins Lance, “why?” Suddenly Lance is glaring at Keith. “Are you saying I’m not a good enough comm. Spec for you? Is that it?”

“What?” Keith looks at Lance in shock, as if that thought has never even crossed his mind. “No! No. Lance, you and Hunk are the best here at the Garrison but I’m just saying that we need to split up in order to get answers.”

“I’m not following,” he says hesitantly. Hunk is still not sure what Keith could be meaning. “What do you mean Keith?”

“Look,” says Keith as he pulls out his student ID. “I’m a fighter pilot and that allows me access into certain flight logs in the garrison that are usually locked and kept away from most people including comm. Specs and engineers. Pilots in general have a little more access than everybody else. We need to split up our team so that one of you guys can become a pilot.”

“Keith, Lance and I can’t be pilots,” he begins. “I am not the biggest fan of flying. I love tinkering.”

 “I’ll do it,” says Lance resolutely.

“Wait, what?” Now that was a shocker. Hunk looks over at his friend and is surprised by the absolute serious look on Lance’s face. Lance has never shown any interest in becoming a pilot before. Heck! He always seemed perfectly happy as a comm. Spec if anything. “Are you serious Lance?”

“They’re holding info back from us Hunk,” argues Lance smoothly as he looks over at the engineer. “If Keith’s right and they really allow pilots more access than the rest of us, then it will be better for us to have two pilots on this investigation. If Keith and I are able to access the information together, then I can use what I know from my comm. Spec training to make sense of it all.”

“But what about the team?”

“I’m sorry Hunk, but it’s an evil we’ll just have to face.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! We've made it to the end of the chapter and we really hope that you all have enjoyed this! The Garrison trio has now come to the conclusion that they must break up so what will become of our lovely heroes? Thank you all so much for all the kudos and comments! WyrdWeaver and I have really wanted to respond to them but we've been pretty busy lately. But hey! We'll get to responding to them as soon as we can.


	5. Cold pressed days

In order for this plan to work, they had to make a huge spectacle out of their team’s break up and breakdown. Normally this was not something that Keith was comfortable with but it was a necessary evil in order for the plan to work. They had purposefully failed a simulator and when they exited the craft, he and Keith got into a screaming match. It was honestly a painful experience and words were said that neither ever wanted to say to their friend but it just had to be done. They had to be “broken apart” by Iverson in order to prevent a fight and their team was dismantled for their poor behavior, both in the simulator and by how they were “behaving.”

This was something that he and Keith had agreed upon. Once their team was broken apart, Lance would test to become a pilot. It wasn’t like it was prohibited; it was just very rare for something like that to happen. Usually when students enrolled at the garrison and were placed into their “specialties” they remained there. But on a handful of occasions, students switched their specialties in order to become something different from what they started out as. Usually it was pilots “downgrading” to become engineers and comm. Specs but never the reverse.

But Lance was lucky. Keith prepped him for everything that was to come on that exam so he was prepared. They were often up until dawn cramming and going over the finer details about piloting so that Lance could just pass the exam and be promoted to pilot.

“Once you’re in,” says Keith one day after their meeting. “We have to keep up this “rivalry” or no one will actually believe us.”

“This sucks man,” he sighs. Keith is one of his best friends and to know that they would have to “break up” like this was awful.  

Keith’s expression saddens as he looks away. “I know it does. This new comm. Spec, they’re just not you. They just don’t work well with me and Hunk. They’re just, well, there.”

“But hey,” Lance bumps his shoulder against Keith’s just to lighten the mood. “Cheer up buddy, everything will be alright. We’ll always be best friends.”

“I just hope so.”

Lance passes his promotion exam with flying colors and is now a garrison cargo pilot.

Their team celebrates by bringing back movie night and cookies n cream popcorn while plotting their next move. They had to pull this off perfectly or people would start suspecting them. Lance and Keith would go into the garrison pilot logs every two weeks and sometimes “sporadically” if they were beginning to looks suspicious. Every time they did that, they would take notes and pictures of the information that they found and reconvene on movie night where they would try to put all the pieces together.

But even then, just how far were they actually going? Were they actually making all the necessary progress? Lance cannot help but wonder if they are really making as much of a dent as he thinks that they are. He wants to believe that they are; he really does, but are they?

“Are you seriously questioning things now Lance?” Keith looks at him incredulously. “We’re so close.”

“But Keith,” he begins, “How do we know if we’re right?”

“When we find them of course!”

“But how?”

“We will find them.”

“Guys,” Hunk is looking between them.

Keith’s eyes are stern. “We will find them and bring them back. You still love him right? Matt?”

Lance looks at Keith in surprise. “Well, yeah!”

“Then find him.”

If only it were just that simple. Lance would love to be able to wave a magic wand or Google search and see his boyfriend reappear on a magical space ship. But the chances of that happening were slim to none. Keith keeps telling him that they will find them but Lance does have his doubts. Not that he does not want to find Matt, he does, but even if he is able to track the signals to where Matt was, how would they even be able to get up there? Who would listen even if they found something?

But things went from bad to worse. Today they were out on the garrison’s hoverbikes on a training exercise of sorts with a couple of instructors watching over them. Lance had a bad feeling about this ever since he saw the hoverbikes in the first place. Something just did not seem right and so he found himself refusing to get one when it was offered to him. He stands at the sidelines and watches as Keith zooms about on his bike with a small smile on his face. He knows that this is one of Keith’s favourite hobbies and that he and his brother would often go riding together.

“Hey Lance,” Keith is suddenly beside him on the hoverbike with a large grin on his face. “Wanna get on and go for a spin?”

Lance looks at his former teammate in surprise before offering him a smile and shaking his head. No, Lance would rather have his feet planted firmly on the ground thank you. Not that he did not trust Keith’s ability to drive these things, but he just did not feel comfortable about it.

“Nah Mullet,” chuckles Lance, “I’m good.”

Keith shrugs. “Suit yourself.”

He watches as Keith begins to race another student and suddenly a feeling of dread begins to grow in his stomach. He finds himself watching Keith’s race in a new light now. Every second that passes has him wanting to just get on a bike and hurry over to end it. Luckily the race ends as soon as it began and Lance wants to relax as soon as he sees Keith dismount from his bike with a victorious grin on his face, eagerly waving over at his best friend and former comm. spec.

Lance’s eyes are blown open when he sees that the other student that Keith was racing is having difficulty trying to stop their bike. He’s waving over at Keith and trying to get the older boy to move but it is all for naught. Time is suddenly moving in slow motion as he watches the other student be able to slow their bike but it still collides into Keith’s. Keith’s bike collides into Keith with enough force to knock the older boy down. But when Keith had hit the ground, he did not come back up.

“KEITH!!!!!”

* * *

He’s not exactly sure what had happened. One minute he was outside and waving to…someone, and the next he’s waking up on a bed in the medical wing. There are two guys sitting on either side of his bed. One is on the bulkier side with strong arms and a gentle smile on his face. The other one is lanky and reasonably attractive with a worried expression on his face.

“Keith,” sighs the lanky guy, “How are you feeling?” He tries to get up but the lanky guy gently pushes him back down. “Please don’t, you hit your head.”

“You had us worried there, man,” says the bulkier man.

“I’m fine,” he groans while trying to focus on something that was not the bright white lights above him.

“That’s great,” chuckles the bulky man. “You had us worried there. Heck, Lance was so close to crying.”

“I was not Hunk!” argues the lanky guy.

“Lance? Hunk?” Keith looks at them in confusion as he began to wrack his brain for answers but unsuccessfully coming up short.

“Yeah man?” asks the lanky guy, his voice laced with concern that tore at Keith’s heart. He already felt guilty for the next words that would come out of his mouth.

“Who are you guys?”

* * *

Two weeks have passed since Keith’s accident and amnesia and his memories still have not returned. So luckily Keith did not completely forget everything like he knew everything that had to do with the Garrison, his brother, and the Kerberos mission but what he did forget was what hurt the most. Keith lost all memory of him and Lance. He remembered that he was a fighter pilot with one of the best teams that the Garrison had to offer but he could not remember the names or faces of his communications specialist and engineer.

Hunk won’t lie and say that did not hurt him because it did. Two years of friendship were completely lost and forgotten because of a stupid hoverbike incident. Hunk knew that the world was a harsh, cold, and cruel place but now things were just getting ridiculous. He knows how much this hurts him but at the same time, he cannot help but wonder how much this is hurting Keith and Lance.

Keith is trying to figure out who his teammates and friends were. He is trying to understand that his brother is dead in space and understands that he was looking for answers. But no matter how many times he and Lance tell Keith that they are trying to help him, Keith denies it and pushes them away. He reminds Hunk of Keith when they were first put on a team together before Captain Takashi Shirogane pretty much locked the three of them in a room together. Keith must be feeling so lost and alone right now.

Then there’s a Lance and Hunk swears that the universe is against him right now. First his boyfriend’s dad questions whether or not Lance is fully in his research and gets the shovel talk from Dr. Holt. Then said boyfriend dies in space. Their team is then broken up and Lance is by himself. Next their best friend gets into an accident and now he can’t remember who they are. But Lance is doing what he can to try and pull through for their team…or rather, what’s left of it.

All Hunk can do now is try to hold his friends together. He would hate to see them fall apart even more than they already were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, ouch! Keith!!!! Lance!!! Hunk!!!! They're all suffering and it both feels so good and is so awful. But who knows? Maybe it goes up from here? One can only hope.


	6. Bitter Dark Roast

Two months had passed since the hoverbike accident and he still does not really understand what is going on. All he knows right now is that he hates the Galaxy Garrison. He hates that they are hiding information about Shiro from him. He hates how they are hiding information about his previous teammates from him. He hates how they look at him with pity as if he’s missing something.

But newsflash, he isn’t.

He’s not missing anything.

The garrison isn’t doing jack shit about Shiro.

He _knows_ that his brother is still alive. He would feel it if he wasn’t.

He doesn’t care about who his teammates were because obviously they aren’t trying to help him figure out anything. It’s just those two weird guys that are trying to help him but not really. They were more annoying than helpful if anything. Though he will admit, he does enjoy their company. At least there is someone at the garrison with a brain!

He hears it in his classes and in the halls. People whisper about the Kerberos mission and how Takashi Shirogane was the reason why they all died. They all spoke about the supposed pilot error that he made and that made Keith’s blood boil.

“Can’t you all just shut up!” The group of students that had previously been whispering immediately jumped away from him. There was fear in their eyes but he does not care. They should not have been talking about things that they did not understand anyways.

“Keith?” He looks over his shoulder and sees Lance McClain, a new student in one of his piloting classes, standing behind him. He wondered what this guy’s deal was. He always seemed to be near him. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Just leave me alone,” he scoffs.

He hears McClain sigh. “You’re a bit more temperamental than you usually are today. Mind telling me what’s up?”

“How about you stay out of my way,” orders Keith as he shoots the taller boy a glare. “Stay out of my way and stay out of my life, cargo pilot!”

Out of the corner of his eye before he goes stalking down the hallway of his dorm room, he could seen McClain flinching. If anything, McClain should have stayed out of his way just like everyone else. Though he had to give McClain some credit in the fact that he never brought up the Kerberos mission around Keith, unlike everybody else did. That and whenever it was brought up, McClain would also defend his brother against those who said that it was Shiro’s fault that the Kerberos mission failed. Keith wonders how and why McClain seems to know just as many details about the mission as he did as he seemed a bit…flighty. But Keith did have a feeling that McClain must know something about his team and his friends. McClain seemed just a little too comfortable around him to just be a random student but Keith did not want to push it. He does not want to accidently embarrass himself by thinking that he and McClain used to be friends.

Keith will admit that his temper is definitely shorter nowadays as compared to before. But he is also willing to factor in the fact that people like to bring up Kerberos in conversations as opposed to just his accident being factored in. He remembers a time when people looked up to his brother like the hero that he was, like the hero Keith knows him as and will know him as. It definitely does not help that most of the garrison instructors now refer to him as Kogane – his father’s last name – as opposed to Shirogane. Not that he had any hard feelings for his father; no, he loved his father and missed him dearly but Keith had grown used to people referring to him as Keith Shirogane, Takashi Shirogane’s younger brother. So to suddenly hear people shifting to calling him Keith Kogane again felt more like an insult than anything.

He finds himself in Iverson’s office more often than not anymore. Sometimes he just feels the need to set the idiots who blame his brother straight. But unfortunately his methods were not really approved by the Galaxy Garrison. So now he is standing in Iverson’s office with McClain behind him as “moral support” whatever that meant. Screw that guy and his familiarity.

 “That’s the fourth time this week, Kogane,” says Iverson with his back turned to him.

“It’s Shirogane,” answers Keith through gritted teeth.

“What happened this time to provoke another discipline issue, Kogane?”

“I told you it’s Shirogane!” argues Keith. “And stop trying to pin the Kerberos mission on Shiro! It wasn’t pilot error!”

“Keith,” whispers Lance behind him. Keith feels him place his hand on his shoulder. “Calm down.”

Iverson turns around and glares at him. “It was pilot error and how do you know that it wasn’t? I am getting very tired with your attitude, _Kogane_. Times like these, I wish that Shiro was back so that he could whip you into shape! He is not here anymore to babysit you so you better just grow up and face the music. He is dead.”

All he could hear was the blood pounding in his ears. His firsts tighten until his knuckles practically turn white and his entire body is trembling. How dare he speak to him like that? How dare this man drag Shiro’s name through the mud like that? Especially when this bastard use to say such kind words about his brother?

He cannot take it anymore.

The loss of his memories.

The loss of his team.

The loss of his friends.

The loss of his brother.

The only thing that brings Keith back to reality is the moment when his fist connects with Iverson’s face. The sickening crack is almost melodious to his ears when compared to the man’s previous slander of his brother. Keith feels himself being pulled back while others rush forward to Iverson in order to assist him.

“MY BROTHER ISN’T DEAD YOU SON OF A BITCH!” screams Keith as he struggles against their holds. “IT WASN’T HIS FAULT! YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON THAT DAMN MISSION!”

With the strength of his anger, Keith shakes off the people who were holding him and storms back to his dorm room. His bag is already packed because he knew that it was only a matter of time. He grabs it as well as the keys to Shiro’s hoverbike before leaving. He doesn’t look back and just shoves past anyone who tries to get in his way. If he was going to find Shiro, he was going to do it his way.

* * *

He does not even notice someone helping him to his feet after Keith shoved him to the ground. Ever since the older boy stormed out of Iverson’s office, Lance has been tailing Keith and trying to get him to change his mind. He tries to convince Keith to turn around and apologize for his actions and promise that he won’t do anything like that or get into fights again. But Keith just ignores him.

Now, all he can do is stand there and watch as the cloud of dust that was Keith’s hovercycle disappears into the dessert. He’s failed his team yet again. Now they are down a communications specialist _and_ a fighter pilot. He knows that he should have done more to try and coax Keith’s memories to reawaken. He is angry with himself for not doing just that. Lance knows that Keith can be very stubborn sometimes but he should have done more.

They promote him to fighter pilot after Keith leaves. They write off his best friend as expelled and they don’t even send anybody out to see if Keith is okay or not. He tries calling Keith’s phone but only receives a message that the line has been disconnected in response. Hunk tries to cheer him up about his promotion but Lance just can’t. He knows that he was moved up because Keith was expelled and he just can’t help but feel a bit guilty about it. Keith was their best friend, team leader, and fighter pilot. He could never replace Keith.

“Pidge Gunderson,” he reads off the team list, “who the heck is Pidge Gunderson?”

“Right here.”

As soon as he sees her, his heart just stops. She looks just like Matt. Lance knew that Matt had a little sister who looked a lot like him because of all the pictures that Matt had in his wallet and on his phone. But from what Lance can remember, her name was Katie Holt and not Pidge Gunderson. Unless….

“Having some trouble there Pidge?” he asks.

Earlier they had had a flight simulation and needless to say, they had a lot of work to get up there where he once was with Keith as their fighter pilot. Lance would be the first to admit that he was an okay pilot but he was nowhere near the level that Keith or Takashi Shirogane were at. He was happier as a comm. Spec if anything and would give anything to turn back the clock to bring back the old team. But now he was leading this team with Hunk as his engineer and “Pidge Gunderson” as his comm. Spec. Lance could tell by Pidge’s reaction that he was familiar with the technology but his maneuvers as a comm. Spec were far from Lance’s expectations.

“No!” argues Pidge angrily.

“Yeah…” he drawls in disbelief as he moves over to the comm. Spec station. “But just a suggestion, why don’t you try this....”

He immediately begins to run through his process as a comm. Spec and how he would have gone about the mission if he had been sitting in Pidge’s seat. To the untrained eye, it might look he is just talking at him but from what Lance can tell, Pidge is paying attention and taking notes. They have the same focus that Matt does but slightly more intense which is a bit unnerving but what can he expect from siblings.

“You know a lot about being a comm. Spec,” comments Pidge after Lance finishes his little lesson.

“That’s because I’d rather be a comm. Spec,” sighs Lance, ignoring the surprised look on Pidge’s face. “On my old team, I was the comm. Spec and one of my best friends was our fighter pilot. But things happened and I got moved to cargo pilot and now fighter pilot.” He makes a move to leave the simulator. “You know, a lot of things have happened and so we better just make the best of it.”

“Why?”

“Because we never know if things will just end up getting worse.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...ow...this actually hurt to write because all the sad. I hope you all enjoyed this! Next week is our grand finale and maybe we'll have a happy ending? Maybe? I don't know. WyrdWeaver and I will discuss whether or not this is gonna end happy or not probably midweek.


	7. The Sweetest Brew

He can go on and on about how much he wishes that he were wrong but he can do the same about being right as well. Sure it hurt that Iverson would often throw Keith right in his face whenever he messed up in the simulator or whenever someone under minded his abilities and skill set, but those moments of pain were only fleeting and temporary. Being launched into space in a giant blue cat comet robot was probably one of the greatest experiences he has ever had.

Sure finding Shiro and reuniting with Keith was great (though he found it a bit amusing that _both brothers_ had some form of memory loss) and so was meeting Allura and forming Voltron, but the second greatest thing was actually being in space. He was now in the wide expanse that was the universe and could observe the stars to his heart’s content. He can meet with and communicate with a multitude of alien life forms and learn about their lifestyles and how they differed from Earth. He can take advantage of this opportunity to form closer bonds with friends he already had, lost, or just needed more of a connection with.

The only disadvantages that he can see out of this was that they were fighting a massive inter galactic war with a tyrannical space turtle and his evil witch of a partner. Then their son, a freaking shampoo commercial model of a galra, got the summons from mummy dearest and now they were fighting him too. He has that to deal with now but the one the most is the distance between him and his family. He is so far away from Earth now and never got to tell them goodbye or that he would be fine. He wonders if they are doing alright and if everything is okay for them. Lance makes a note that once he can go back to Earth, he will tell them all about his adventures as well as apologize for all the stress he’s probably given them.

But there is another added benefit to finding Shiro and being shot up into space into this massive mess of a universe, it was that he can team up with Pidge and look for Matt. With Shiro being alive, Lance has no doubt in his heart that Matt is also out there just waiting to be found. He chuckles to himself. Yeah right. Like Matt would just be sitting around and waiting to be saved; no, his boyfriend would be raising hell and finding his own way out of trouble if Lance knew him as well as he thought. Once he puts Pidge to rest, he is at her console and going through the notes of her search. He goes through the multitude of files that she has compiled in her search for her father and brother and he has a feeling that she is on the right track. It might just be a tugging at his heart but he just knows that she is on the right track.

“Going through number five’s notes again?”

Lance looks up to see Coran standing behind him with a concerned look on his face. “Yeah, just wanted to see how far she’s gotten.”

“I’m curious as to how you were able to break her encryptions, my boy,” chuckles Coran as he takes a seat beside Lance.

Lance offers him a small smile. “My papa always told me that I had an ear for music. It was the reason why I did so well as a communications specialist back during training on earth.” He gestures to Pidge’s keyboard. “You see, every key and motion has a particular sound and all I need to know is how they all fit together in the song that is Pidge’s encryption.” He turns back to the screen and begins to type. “So long as I know the song, I can easily get in and get out.”

“I am curious as to why you haven’t confronted number five for a direct answer though.” The words hit Lance’s ears as soon as he sees an image of Matt’s face. His fingers immediately stop and his shoulders relax. Just seeing Matt’s face again…he misses him now more than anything. Every time Pidge brings him up, it is like reopening an old wound and it hurts like hell every time.

“Lance? Ah. I see.”

“It’s…it’s nothing Coran….”

“So you and number five’s brother?”

“…yeah…” Lance looks away from the screen and over at Coran for a second before returning to Matt’s image. “I started out by working as a research assistant for his father and that was how we met. I didn’t know Pidge back then but I got to know Matt. He was everything I wanted and more.” A soft smile crosses his lips. “I’ve spent the past year searching for any sign of him being alive and now that we’re here in space, I just know.”

Coran nods his head wisely. “Love is a wonderful thing. It can drive people into doing things that they normally wouldn’t do.  It is a more powerful driving force than even the most concentrated quintessence out there.” Coran pats him on the shoulder. “Don’t stay up too late, alright Lance?”

“Got it.”

What feels like weeks later, he is standing outside the Green Lion with Hunk, Allura, Coran, and Shiro. Pidge had radioed back to them after a solo mission saying that she had a very special guest with her and as much as Lance wanted to keep his emotions in check, he could not help but wonder if it was his beloved.

“Hey everybody,” says Pidge happily after greeting the space mice. “This is my brother,” then walking out of the green lion, “Matt.”

He does whatever he can to remain casual as soon as his eyes meet Matt’s but his heart is beating so hard in chest that it is a miracle that it hasn’t burst yet. Lance wants to do nothing more than to jump on his boyfriend, hug him, and never let him go again. Not after being apart for so long. If he has his way, then he would never let Matt out of his sight.

“OH MY GOODNESS!” shouts Matt as he races over to them. Lance began preparing for impact. “YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL!” Awww, Matt still was great with his compliments. Lance would have to treat him for that later. Matt offers a charming smile. “It is an honour to meet you, Princess.”

….You know what. Never mind. Lance is killing his boyfriend.

Lance is relaxing in the lounge and going through his latest conversation with Keith when he hears the doors opening. If there is one thing he is grateful for, it is that Voltron is bringing back his best friend and fighter pilot. Keith trusts him more now, just like when they were still a team at the garrison. He is only drawn out of his reading when he feels arms hugging him from over and behind the couch.

“So would it help if I say that I love you a latte?”

Lance sighs and sets his phone down on the seat beside him before looking over his shoulder and up at Matt’s golden brown eyes. His hair was definitely longer than when it was at the garrison and there was a scar on his face that he definitely did not have before. Lance tries to frown at his boyfriend before letting out a sigh and cracking a small smile.

“Still coffee puns?” he ask.

Matt smiles back at him before leaping over the back of the couch and sitting beside Lance. He takes both of Lance’s hands into his own and leans into his personal space.

“Would you rather us be having a modulating argument over whether or not we should be single or double modulating?” he asks with that familiar charming smile.

Lance rolls his eyes and leans in so that their foreheads are touching. “So long as we’re together.”

Matt wraps his arms around Lance and pulls him on to him. Soon their lying on top of the couch with Lance curled up against Matt’s chest and just being comfortable with each other. This was definitely something that they both missed and wanted.

“I missed you so much,” whispers Matt into his hair. “I missed you so, so much.”

“As did I,” replies Lance as he nuzzles Matt’s chest. “Can we stay like this for a while?”

“As long as you want.”

* * *

He cannot believe his luck.

First his younger sister is the Green Paladin of Voltron. He always did know that Katie would be destined for greatness but he can’t say that he every predicted Voltron in her future. But now she’s out in space piloting a green robotic lying and kicking galra empire ass like a pro! He has the best little sister in the entire universe and if anyone says otherwise, they can fight him.

Then his boyfriend is the Blue/Red Paladin of Voltron. He wasn’t really sure what color Lance was anymore but he was a paladin of Voltron! Lance was already amazing as is but to add the fact that he is now a paladin of Voltron, now that was just unfair! But Matt could not feel anything but pride when it comes to his boyfriend. Like how many people can look at a paladin of Voltron and say hey, that one’s mine.

“How are you feeling?” he asks while walking up behind his boyfriend. After the virus had almost destroyed Voltron, he thought it would be a good idea to go down and visit his sister and boyfriend to make sure that they were alright. Pidge was right as rain as she usually was but he just had to double check on Lance.

Lance looks over his shoulder and smiles at him. He cannot help but blush a bit at how dashing he looks in the blue paladin armor. All that fighting in space has definitely helped fill him out a bit because he definitely wasn’t as scrawny compared to when they were still on Earth. But standing on that platform looking out over Olkarion as the sun was setting, it was beautiful. He knows that the team is under a lot of stress from maintaining the coalition and building more alliances against the galra empire. Sure it was helpful to have Lotor on their side but Matt can’t help but wonder if this was all a good idea or not.

“Something on your mind?” asks Lance curiously.

“It’s nothing,” replies Matt tiredly before offering him a small cheesy smile. “Does it help to say that I think about you a latte?”

Lance rolls his eyes. “Will you ever stop with those?”

“You keep on giving me another shot,” he chuckles.

“I swear, how can you even come up with those?”

“Can’t help it, it’s just how I espresso myself.”

Lance’s laughter fills the air and Matt goes around to hug him from behind, resting his chin on Lance’s shoulder.

“How are you feeling?” he asks curiously. “Please don’t let what Shiro says get to you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” whispers Lance right back. “I’m fine.”

Matt nuzzles his face into Lance’s shoulder. Sure it’s not too comfortable due to the paladin armor but the closeness was just what he needed. It was comforting to know that Lance was there. That it was actually Lance and not just a memory of him. While he was a prisoner, his dreams were haunted by memories of Earth, his friends, family, and mostly Lance. But in each of those dreams, Lance was just so far away from him that he could never reach him. So to have actual Lance be in his arms were a dream come true and if this was just a dream, he never wants to wake up.

“You know,” he whispers while looking up from Lance’s shoulder. “A million sunsets happen every day, but do you know which one’s my favourite?”

Lance turns around and wraps his arms around Matt’s heck so that they are facing each other. Ah, there they are. Those enchanting blue eyes that he initially fell in love with and they are just as bright and beautiful as the first time he saw them. “Humor me, which one?”

“The ones that I get to share with you,” he whispers, lifting a hand from Lance’s waist to caress his cheek. “I love you a latte.”

He slowly presses their lips together and instantly, the world just dissolves away. All that matters now is that they are together and there is nothing that can tear them apart again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good evening everybody!
> 
> Yup, we're a day late in posting this but here we are! This journey has been fun, a bit rocky at points, but enjoyable overall. I hope you all will continue to support WyrdWeaver and I's future works such as the ones we'll be posting today (a Klance fic) and possibly next week (a Shance fic). We will probably end up coming back to Latte a little later once inspiration smacks me in the face again. 
> 
> We hope that you all have a great day and see you around!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everybody, Emi here and I've decided to dive into the Voltron fandom. I am so excited to be sharing this with you all and hope that everybody enjoys this. I really love Lance x Matt! They are one of my most favourite ships with my number one being Shiro x Lance and this being my number 2. 
> 
> So if you like this, please leave a comment or a kudos or both! Both would be lovely because WyrdWeaver and I love to hear from you all if possible. We will try to update weekly for you all, it really just depends because some weeks are going to be a little more difficult than others because college.


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